


love in the time of galra

by rhapsodyinpink



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, in universe sequential drabble series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-10 07:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7835926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhapsodyinpink/pseuds/rhapsodyinpink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When five people spend so much time together, the chances are high that two of them will fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. crushes

**Author's Note:**

> i don't even know friends. enjoy hahaha

It happens first to Keith. Allura is not surprised; given his history alone, and the fact that he has grown up without a family to support him, it is natural that he would develop a certain affection for the paladin he partners with most often. It happened before, with the paladins of old, and it will surely happen again in the future.

When five people spend that much time together, the chances are high that two of them will fall in love.

It’s subtle at first, his cheeks flushing slightly when Lance smiles at him after a mission, tripping over the few words he speaks, even when they’re arguing, but it becomes known to everyone during a mindsharing exercise where a daydream he surely meant to keep hidden flashes across the screens of the other four paladins.

Though he flushes pink himself, Lance says nothing, letting the vision melt away as the exercise ends in silence. Allura pulls Keith aside after the other paladins awkwardly leave the room and asks him if he wants to talk.

He tries to brush her off but she is insistent, and reminds him that it is important to have emotional transparency between the paladins of Voltron, and that it is absolutely normal and fine if he has a little crush on his fellow paladin. He’s hardly the first.

And after all, if it is a little crush, Allura knows that all will be well.

If it’s not, it could be a problem.

* * *

It happens next to Lance.

At first, he doesn’t think too much about it when Keith’s daydream of them kissing flits across the shared screens during their mindsharing exercise. People have crushed on him before, and he and Keith do spend a lot of time together. He’s going to do his best not to make things awkward between them.

Although Lance isn’t quite sure what to say to Keith the next day, he tries his best to be normal, and it’s clear that Keith is trying too, and things are—well, they’re a bit strange, but they’re honest. Keith knows that Lance is aware of his crush, and he also knows that Lance is trying to be understanding about it.

And then a few days later, to everyone’s surprise, Lance is the one whose mind is wandering, romantic fantasies rising unbidden during their group mind exercises.

He yelps and lets go of the connection, but he’s not fast enough to keep it from flashing across the shared screens, the imagery far more vivid than Keith’s.  

The others quickly scatter from the room, though Shiro lingers at the door and says, “I think the two of you need to talk.”

Lance shrugs awkwardly. “So…uh…I guess I like you too.”

“I can see that,” replies Keith, blunt, but clearly pleased.

They smile at each other, finally on the same page.

And then it occurs to them at the same time.

“Now what?”

“I don’t know.”

“Shit, me neither.”

* * *

“Are you sure your relationship is serious?” asks Allura, lips pursed with concern.

“Princess Allura, I’m not sure of anything,” replies Lance. “I’m not even sure what I ate for breakfast this morning.”

“To be fair, I don’t think any of us are sure what we ate for breakfast this morning,” adds Keith. “No offense, Coran.”

“None taken,” says Coran. “You’ll appreciate the delights of Altean cuisine eventually. It grows on you, you see.”

Keith turns back to Allura. “So is there a reason you asked the two of us to meet you alone?”   

“Well, we just wanted to talk to the two of you about what happened during training today, to make sure that you understand that it’s normal, for two paladins to feel this kind of connection. It’s happened before, as I mentioned to Keith, the last time this happened.”

Lance suddenly presses his sleeve to his mouth, which is twitching uncontrollably. Although Allura and Coran stare at him in confusion, Keith has the impression that he is trying as hard as he can to hold back laughter.        

Finally, Lance puts his arm back down and sighs before turning back to the two confused Alteans with a small smile.

“Coran, Princess, I appreciate the offer, but I think I speak for both of us when I say that we would rather figure this out on our own.”

“Well, alright, if that’s how you feel,” responds Allura. “Just know that we are both here, if you need us.”

“And we appreciate that!” chirps Lance, before grabbing onto Keith’s arm and pulling him out the room.

“Hey!” yelps Keith, as Coran smiles fondly behind them.

“Ah, young love.”

* * *

Even though the Garrison was a strict military school and relationships between students were not explicitly forbidden but were very much frowned upon, people still found a way, and it was still expected; normal, even. Hiding in corners, sneaking around at night—there was a script to follow.

But how to start a new relationship in the middle of an intergalactic war? When all free time is spent training in various rooms of a magical castle? When extreme team bonding means that most of the information that prospective couples share during a first date is old hat?

Well, neither Keith nor Lance have much of an idea where to start, despite telling Allura and Coran that they’ve got it covered.

“Where should we go on our first date?” Lance asks Hunk the next morning.  “I can’t think of anything besides going stargazing at the top of the castle, and we already did that last week.”

“Candlelit dinner?” suggests Hunk. “Pidge and I could probably make some fake candles out of the scrap metal she found the other day. Turns out that the “drink” that Coran tried to give us yesterday is actually great fuel.”

“Do I want to know how you figured that out?”

“I would rather talk to you about what you want to do for your first date.”

“I guess a fake candlelit dinner is the best we can do. Thanks for the help.”

* * *

Keith and Lance don’t end up going to dinner. They make out on Keith’s bed instead.

* * *

“So, what are we?” asks Lance, a few weeks later, as they’re wading through an alien swamp on a friendly planet in search of grubs that Coran has requested for some indeterminate reason.

Keith shrugs. “Does it matter?”

“Nah, I guess not,” Lance responds.

Keith grins as he laces his swamp goo-covered hands through Lance’s, which are equally messy. The contact results in a disgustingly squishy squelch, which gets louder as he squeezes tighter.

“Okay.”


	2. dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's not much of a plot to these- just little vignettes of what it might be like to be two boys in love in the middle of space. Enjoy :)

Lance often reflects on the fact that going on dates in space is hard.

Not only is there not much to do on a regular basis, stargazing (once one of Lance’s top go-tos) just doesn’t have the same appeal as it used to before he and Keith became paladins.

Not to mention that free time has become far more spare, and the team progresses further into Galra-controlled territory, friendly planets are hard to come across, so Allura and Coran have been encouraging the paladins to stay inside the castle unless they are going on a mission.  

So he gets it. 

But that doesn’t make it any easier to digest the fact that finding a spare moment for romance will continue to become more difficult as time goes by. 

And it doesn’t make Lance any less stir-crazy. 

All he asks is for one nice evening alone with his boyfriend/kissing buddy/whatever it is that they are (they never quite decided), away from the curious eyes of Allura and Hunk and away from Pidge’s inevitable mischief. She’s as bored as the rest of them, and has been taking it out on Keith and Lance by cockblocking them whenever they get a chance to have some blissful alone time.

In fact, Lance can’t remember the last time he’s been able to make out with Keith without getting interrupted by the little gremlin within five minutes. 

Keith doesn’t seem to be as bothered by this as much as he does, but then again, he’s always been more reticent and restrained about his actual emotions in front of the others. 

Still, Lance is determined to wrestle some romance out of their decidedly unromantic lives. 

So one morning-  (he thinks it’s morning, anyway. Morning isn’t really a thing in space, but the sun is rising over the earth’s horizon somewhere, millions of light years away, and that’s what keeps him going)- one morning he sneaks into Keith’s room before he wakes up, and sits at the edge of the bed until Keith realizes that there’s someone there and freaks the fuck out before realizing it’s just Lance. 

“Jesus Christ, Lance! Ever heard of knocking?” 

“You look really cute when you’re asleep. Did you know that?” 

Keith scowls, but scoots over and makes space on the bed for Lance as he looks at him with infuriatingly pleading puppy-dog eyes.

“You want something, don’t you?”

“What, I can’t compliment my kissing buddy?”

“I thought we agreed never to use that term ever again.” 

“Okay. So then we’ve progressed to lovers. I must admit, I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“You’re really not as funny as you think you are.” 

“Doesn’t matter, as long as you think I’m funny.”

“I don’t.”

“You’re lying.” 

“Shut up.” 

“I will, if you let me take you on a date.”

“....we’re literally dating. We’re boyfriends. Or...kissing buddies. Whatever.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it!” 

Keith blinks, clearly uncomprehending. “No...I really don’t know. What’s your definition of dating?”

Lance practically screams with frustration at his utterly unromantic companion. 

“We’ve been dating for like two months now and I haven’t been able to take you on one real date.” 

“Lance, we’re in the middle of space. It’s not like we can go to some fancy restaurant. This is fine.” 

“It might be fine for you, but I just want to treat my man right. Is that too much to ask?” 

“Since when have you been such a sap? You’ve been talking to Coran too much again, haven’t you?”

“There might have been a conversation between the two of us and Hunk, yes. But we’re not going to talk about that right now. It is irrelevant to the point at hand.” 

“Oh, okay. I see. They’ve been giving you ideas, haven’t they?”  

“My lips are sealed. Meet me in front of the training deck tonight, after you shower.” 

Keith sighs. “Okay.”

* * *

After practice, Lance waits impatiently in the hallway for Keith to show up, tapping his toes on every surface until his boyfriend finally emerges through the door, his hair still damp, the wet strands of his mullet sticking to the back of his neck. 

To Lance’s mild disappointment, Keith is dressed normally, in his regular black shirt and pants. Of course, he hasn’t exactly told him to dress up, so he supposes that one’s on him. He wonders for a brief moment what Keith would look like dressed up in a fancy suit, and decides that at some point in the near future, he’s going to make an excuse to convince Coran to let them into his closet. The man might have his quirks, but he does dress pretty sharp sometimes. 

Keith walks up to Lance and quickly kisses him on the cheek, eyes apologetic. 

“Hey, sorry I’m late. It’s been a long day of training and I just needed a longer shower than usual.”

Lance shakes his head and smiles. “It’s okay. It’s not a big deal. We’re just going to visit Blue, anyway.” 

“Oh. I thought you said we were going on a date?” 

“We are.”

“If we’re leaving the castle, I think I should get Red. You know what Allura said about the territory we’re in right now.”

“Come on, babe. Where’s your sense of adventure?” 

“Whenever you say that, I get nervous.”

“So rude. Don’t you trust me?”

“Not as far as I can throw you.”

“That hurts.”

“You’ll get over it.”

* * *

A half hour later, after Blue takes them to a deserted cavernous planet called Raveenium that looks rather dark and grim, with the entrances to large and scary looking caves dotting the surface, Keith and Lance look at each other skeptically.

“Lance, are you sure this is the right planet? I don’t have a good feeling about this place.”

“Yeah, I’m positive. Coran told me this was the best date spot in three galaxies.” 

“That was also ten thousand years ago.”

“Fair point. I didn’t exactly think this through.”

“You never do.” 

“I resent that.”

Keith snorts. 

“You know what? Screw this. Do you just wanna go back to Blue and make out in the cockpit?”

“I like the way you think.” 

* * *

When they get back almost three hours later, both their lips are chapped and Keith’s hair is messier than anyone has ever seen it as he practically floats past the other paladins and Coran to his room, his eyes illuminated with a happiness that brightens the entire room. 

Lance, for his part, suddenly seems reluctant to expose his skin to the cold, zipping up his jacket all the way and borrowing one of Allura’s scarves and wrapping it tightly around his neck with the excuse that he’s freezing as he camps out in the common area next to Hunk, too wired to sleep. 

“Well? How did you like the suggestion, my boy?” asks Coran. “Wasn’t it wonderful? I have had many a wonderful frolic at Raveenium. It’s quite a lovely place.”

Lance softly presses his fingers to the edge of his collarbone, closing his eyes with a smile as he traces the outline that he knows Keith’s lips have left on his skin. 

“Yeah. Yeah, it was.” 

**Author's Note:**

> come say hello to me at [stardusted](http://stardusted.tumblr.com) on tumblr!


End file.
